11 January, 2013

We were handed the key to the new space today. We have to choose paint and carpet colors. We still must order warehouse shelving. The service order for Comcast is in, electric and gas will switch on Feb. 1, the storage container out back will be removed Feb. 8.

But the most worrisome of items to coordinate, the topic of hottest concern here is:should we get a new coffee maker, and if so, what style?

While we have a Francis! Francis! espresso machine, she has only a single boiler, which is a pain and a wait for steamed milk or hot water for Americanos. Our current warehouse is located within quick driving and biking distance from three coffee outlets, so the blood-need for caffeine can be filled quickly. But the new space, although not far from here, means several lights and turns (especially nearly impossible left turns) to get anywhere; the coffee will be cold by the time we return to the shop.

Here are the options:

The Keurig system. The pros are: it is clean (no grounds!) and quick, everyone can have his/her favorite flavor, and you could dispense hot water for tea if you bought a large enough unit. The cons are the K-cups are ridiculously expensive and the coffee is not hot enough, unless the machine is hard wired into the water supply. We could save on the coffee itself if we got a "refillable K-cup," but that would negate the whole "no grounds!" argument.

Good old Mr. Coffee and his offspring. Pros: it's inexpensive, and sometimes you can coax a good cup out of it with a brand as inexpensive as Folgers, and they're not just ugly white or black any more. Cons: grounds, the horrible smell of old coffee in the pot... and some staff members would quit if we went with that.

Double boiler espresso machine. Pros: hot water on demand, no wait for steam build-up for frothing milk, and it looks cool as hell. Cons: Costly upfront cash outlay, too much maintenance what with backflushing, new gaskets, etc. And then there's the grounds, as it's my experience that no one except me empties the knockbox (though we do have a grassy area out back for a garden, and espresso grounds are supposedly great for the soil).

French Press or Pour Over. Pros: nice individual coffee to your taste and simple to prepare. Cons: grounds, constant clean up in the bathroom sink, and the French Press system is fussy (boil, pour, stir, wait, press, or is it boil, pour, wait, stir, press?)

Short of some enterprising soul's opening a coffee shop in the warehouse district, none of these options is ideal. Maybe we can talk the banana-bread commercial bakery next door into opening a coffee bar. Your thoughts?

In my experience, k-cups make awful coffee, and if people are going to quit over a Mr. Coffee, I don't want to think about what they'll do after their first k-cup.

In my experience, the Mr. Coffee option is the most flexible, dependable, with the least maintenance. So long as you buy good beans, clean the machine once in a while, and have a good proportion coffee to water.

Pour over is great. French press is great, but messy and gets cold quickly if you keep it in the carafe.

if you want tasty coffee, invest in a nice burr grinder and a swan-neck kettle and do individual pour overs. If you've got overwhelming interest in espresso drinks, and the patience to really invest time in learning to use a nice double-boiler or heat-exchange machine, you've still got a major investment in a burr grinder coming your way.

Nepresso? Similar to the Keurig but I don't believe it needs to hard-wired into the water supply. The capsules are also recyclable. Some machines have a milk frother too. They're really wonderful and can be trailed at the Sur La Table store.

Combination of airpot brewer (Bunn or Zojirushi) for the hurried masses (like Mr. Coffee, but keeps coffee hot without subjecting it to ongoing heat that makes it turn nasty), and coffee cone(s) and a burr grinder for the coffee fiends to make their own. And yeah, put a used-coffee-filter/grounds-only waste bin next to them; grounds are like Miracle-gro.

AeroPress.These are small and inexpensive and make a great cup of espresso/Americano for those without a real machine or who want a simple back-up process.The paper filters are very cheap and the grounds get compacted into a puck shape that is easily tossed into your bin... or compost.Clean-up is easy with a quick rinse and a little soap. Oh, and an electric kettle to heat the water.Great for tea, as well.

+1 on the Aeropress. I used to work at that big coffee company in Seattle and we had access to every contraption capable of brewing coffee. You name it, we had it. Chemex, French press, Keurig, Nespresso, pour over stands, etc., etc. The best by far was the Clover machine which allows you to control everything to the second and degree. However, they're insanely expensive (as in price of a decent used car!) and no longer sold to the public. The Aeropress is a very close second. Less silt than a French press and also not as fragile. Also the easiest to clean.

It's easy to use like a keurig - pour whole beans in the top and fill the water tank, then just push a button to choose strength and size of shot - short shot for espresso, tall shot for regular cup. It also has a steamer that takes about 15 seconds to ramp up and then a minute later you have steamed milk and foam for a latte or capuchino.

I purchased a refurb model from Seattle Coffee Gear and it's been going strong for about a year now. Coffee snobs may balk at it not being fully tunable to make the perfect shot, but it's significantly better than keurig but just as simple.

Miss Annette:Why not just tell everybody to bring their own dang coffee to work in big thermoses (thermosii? thermosae?)then spend the money on a kegerator. Load it up with Yuengling or Little Kings and I'll come work for ya cheap.

I'd get some of these: http://diycoffeeroasting.com/shop/clever-coffee-dripper/or a large capacity filter cone. And an electric kettle and burr grinder. Paper or bamboo filters are cheap. Stainless carafes are indestructible.

Espresso makers are fine if you have one person fetching espresso at your beck and call, but that's probably a little too bougie.

I've wondered about the differences Mr Coffee makers and filter cones- they are both essentially pour overs. There's more elegance with a pour over and a kettle, but the gitrdone expediency of a mr coffee maker is hard to beat and cheaper to purchase and maintain since you are not having to buy an externalized water kettle.

Miss Annette: TJ might have at least a small glass of wisdom in his giant keg of nonsense. A cold brew at the end of the day is a better "carrot" than a hot coffee in the morning. Sipping coffee probably costs VO several hours of productivity every day. Rewards-- cold beers on the end of a stick-- may be more effective.

Seems people are more interested in coffee than bikes these days. Nice post, (Miss) Annette.

For drip coffee go with the Technivorm Moccamaster. A little more expensive but worth it. I have had the KBT 741 for about 4 years and it still makes the best drip coffee I have ever had. Check out the reviews at Seattle Coffee Gear. http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/technivorm-moccamaster-kbt741-black-or-polished-silver?gclid=CMiL5uKa47QCFYKK4Aodo1wAcQ#Reviews

The pod machines don't produce the best possible coffee. The via media is probably a heat exchanger machine like a Andreja Premium from Quickmill. All the benefits of a double boiler machine, but much less complicated.

A commercial coffee maker with hot water dispenser sounds like a good idea to me.

A samovar would provide you with nice hot water on demand for coffee or tea. Melitta and Chemex make good manual coffee makers. Combine all this with vacuum flasks and you've got hot coffee and tea all day with minimal clean up.

If you want something unique, you could always get a Cona or Bodum vacuum coffee maker.

I have to agree with Matt Dudek (and others) that the Keurig machines aren't worth bothering with. We had one at work and I could never get a good cup out of it regardless of what coffee I used or how much water I told the machine to use. I got close by using Folgers K-Cups and adding 1/3 hot water to the coffee-like beverage it dispensed. Close, but only acceptable because it was easier than driving to the 7-11 down the street.

A Mr. Coffee (or similar) is inexpensive and delivers decent results if you use it right. It'll be a nice compliment to the espresso machine too. I find I get the best results by using good coffee, using much more coffee than you'd typically use, and leaving about a pint of water in the carafe during brewing. That gives me a strong and flavorful cup without being acidic or overly bitter.

At work I use an Aerobee press in conjunction with a plug-in tea kettle. Makes a good, strong cup in a matter of minutes without the plastic waste of a Keurig, and you get to use the coffee of your choice.When I visited Rivendell's HQ last June, they offered me a nice cup of espresso. Can't remember what kind of machine they used, however.Good luck on solving this important workplace issue

At risk of being the buzz-kill, might I suggest that this be an opportunity to switch from coffee to water? Think of the time, energy, and resources you would free up. Headaches for a few days (for the addicts), and then freedom.

rrylopI enjoy the smallest and simplest version of the keurig (without the resevoir) and use the refillable filters with freshly roasted coffee. It works great in an apartment and I am able to avoid the waste of the k-cups, but I cannot endorse the commercial size keurigs. I have also had mixed results using the refillable filters in larger units with pre-determined settings for water levels and cup size... so beware. Methinks they have greater water pressure than the small unit when injecting water into the k-cups/filters but no matter how much/little or how loose/tight I pack the fresh coffee, water would overlow the top of the filter and drip over the sides resulting in a weak and watery cup of coffee. Whatever you choose, I dig the idea of composting your spent coffee grounds into a garden outside the office

I must admit, I've never heard of most of your suggestions, and I've spent waaaay too much time steeping myself in the minutia.

I think we're all turned off by Keurig and its competitors, though I did learn that some K-units crush the pod for you for later recycling.

As we have a perfectly good espresso maker (in which we use espresso pods) I can't justify another, even the coveted double-boiler system. Plus, it's like owning a car with the ongoing maintenance and parts.

While the Aeropress is intriguing - and I certainly prefer pucks to loose grounds - my gut says a drip brewer with a thermal carafe. Or I just may completely cheap out and go with a Melita plastic cone and non-bleached paper filters, which is simple and foolproof to boot. When you really need coffee, maybe simple is best...

I don't picture VO as the type of environment to rock a Keurig. Too much plastic in the disposable k-cups, coffee comes out weak when you use the reusable My K-cup option.A pour over method using good unbleached coffee filters allows each person to make the coffee as strong as they want. You could also potentially compost the coffee filters or find a suitable way to dispose of the waste in an eco-friendly way.

K-Cup all the way. Dark-Magic is awesome as is the Italian Roast both by Green Mountain Coffee. As far as I am concerned it makes very acceptable coffee. My Keurig has helped me kick the Starbucks habit. K-cups are recyclable if you cut the top off and empty the coffee out after each use. Not much more of a pain then a french press or expresso machine. Coffee essential and made easy by Keurig. Good luck on the move!

Miele coffee system. My significant other recently got a CVA615 coffee system in exchange for work. Impressive system, has made me more of a coffee drinker. Roasted beans in the hopper, water in the pitcher. Can do espresso and froth milk for those who need it. No filters. The grounds get dumped into a bin. There is a plumbed in version. It has a microprocessor, and keeps track of the number of cups made. Ours has 5600 cups made so far. it had 5000 when we got it. Not a lot of experience with it, but look at them. And get a Bunn unit for traditionalists.

AEROPRESS-easy clean up, great cup of coffee. Pour over is nice too. Either way, it's cheap and usually ends up a better cup of coffee than a cheaper espresso machine and way better than Keurig or Mr. Coffee...

Choose the bunn machine with hot-water... and also have a box of #2 filters, some plastic pour-overs, and a grinder on hand. Let people choose their own adventure.I'd happily take that orange francis francis off of your hands. My blue one, although it still makes a good espresso, tends to leak water all over my counter.

After 13 years with a hard-core commercial espresso machine, I decided to make the jump, clear off my counter, and simplify. I bought a Nespresso Citiz with additional milk frother. I'll never look back. For $249 complete (sales are frequent), you can't go wrong.